The best laptops of 2018: top laptops ranked

The PC industry has often argued that notebooks in general are headed towards extinction, but they seem to be holding on with each passing year. In fact, with more powerful laptops being added to the market, it’s likely that these devices are nearing a golden age. Ultrabooks are still popular and mainstream laptops still do draw some interest.

With hybrids, Ultrabooks, traditional clamshells and more portable than ever gaming laptops in tow, these are the best laptops you can buy.

Slim, light, powerful and majestic, Dell’s 2017 flagship XPS 13 is one of the best laptops today. The company introduced a new Alpine White model recently, but the version we’ve reviewed ought to satisfy anyone looking for a top-notch Windows Ultrabook in the meantime. Whether for its powerful Intel Kaby Lake processors or for its bezel-less ‘Infinity Edge’ display, which shoves a 13.3-inch screen into an 11-inch frame, the Dell XPS 13 makes a significant impression. Not only that, the port selection is on point too.

Compared to Apple’s USB-C exclusive approach, Dell’s flagship notebook impresses with – in addition to USB-C – USB 3.0 and an SD card slot. Bearing in mind those facets alone, it’s no wonder the Dell XPS 13 is amongst the most popular WIndows laptops in the world. And it gets better. You also get a choice of a super high-res and multi-touch screens, as well as a breadth of options for storage and memory. Or you can save on cash and opt for more conservative specs.

With Lenovo’s Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2017 update, the company has redefined the benchmark for business notebooks. This year’s edition of the Thinkpad X1 Carbon compromises nothing, be it portability or performance.

It’s smaller and lighter, has a compact profile reinforced with carbon fibre, which means it is as tough as they come, has all the I/O ports you will need and bits like touchpad improvements backed by Microsoft Precision Touchpad program.

The Asus ZenBook UX310UA is the perfect replacement for the more expensive Dell XPS 13 without big compromises. Well, it doesn’t look as nice as the XPS 13, also, the battery isn’t as great too. It’s not that the notebook is ugly, as you get an all aluminium frame, and fast performance using a Intel’s 7th-generation Kaby Lake processor.

Additionally, you can choose between a full HD and an immersive QHD+ screen. No matter what model you go for, this laptop is a solid choice.

If you’re after the latest laptop from Apple, we suggest you welcome the 13-inch Macbook Pro with Touch Bar. Microsoft claims the Surface Book 2 is twice as powerful, but it’s not available in India.

Of course, the headline feature is the Touch Bar – a thin OLED display above the keyboard that can be used for various applications. If you’re a fan of the Macbook Pro 2017, you’ll be happy with this model but there are some serious reasons why you should consider one of the Windows alternatives too. The Macbook Pro isn’t as powerful, has a lower resolution display and has no touchscreen support. Plus, its battery is a tad disappointing, too. We’d recommend this only to diehard Apple fans and those who are already invested in the ecosystem.

Apple doesn’t seem very interested in the Macbook Air nowadays, but it’s only the beginning for the new MacBook. Not only is it the slimmest, sleekest and best-looking Macbook Apple ever built, it’s one of the most popular and best-selling laptops on the planet as well.

Yet, it may not serve as a primary productivity machine – it’s a lot less powerful than the Macbook Pro and has only one USB Type-C port for all you IO needs. If those compromises don’t bother you, the Macbook is a super slim and light laptop meant for those who’re looking for portability.

Part of Asus’ new generation of Max-Q gaming laptops, the Asus ROG Zephyrus is both ridiculously powerful and astonishingly thin and light. Make no mistake, this thing is large compared to a Macbook Pro or Dell XPS 13, but compared to gaming laptops of the past, this is certainly an achievement. Your expectations of a 15-inch gaming laptop will never be the same after seeing the Zephyrus in action. It’s expensive of course, but with powerful Core i7 CPU and GTX 1080 graphics, it’ll be easily powerful enough to play the best games for many years to come. It’s an ideal top-end desktop replacement for gamers and other heavy users.

If it’s a new gaming laptop you want, and can’t afford the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 above, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming is your best option. It costs about half of what the Zephyrus does and offers good value for money. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti graphics chip is reasonably powerful and there’s a 1080p display on this laptop as well. The laptop provides 8 hours of battery life, which means the Inspiron 15 7000 is somewhat portable too. Also, a gaming session playing Tom Clancy’s The Division for two hours on medium settings uses about 66% battery.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is the best laptop for those looking for the perfect blend between a nimble Windows tablet and a fully functional laptop. The base version of the Surface Pro 4 is just a tablet and the Surface Pen or Type Cover keyboard are sold separately. And we’d recommend springing for the keyboard case. The Surface Pro, alongside the also-excellent Surface Book laptop, is to Windows what the Pixel is to Google’s Android. It’s the benchmark Windows device, with software and hardware working together in perfect harmony.

The 13.3-inch version of the HP Spectre x360 may not have a SD card slot like its 15.6-inch sibling, but it packs the same hardy internal components in a more portable physique. Then there’s the keyboard, which with 1.3mm of travel, feels like a significant improvement. Despite having a dependable 8 hours and 45 minutes long battery life, the HP Spectre x360 weighs just about 1.2 kg. Just when we thought there wasn’t a laptop that’s cutting-edge in every category, the HP Spectre x360 proved us wrong.

If you’ve ever wanted a MacBook Pro without breaking the bank, the Samsung Notebook 7 Spin not only delivers the style and glitz of Apple’s pro laptops, but it adds a touchscreen to the mix at an approachable starting price. For a hefty 2-in-1 with a Core i7 CPU, 12GB of RAM and even a discrete Nvidia GPU, the Samsung Notebook 7 provides top of the line specs. But, as Samsung probably asked while devising this hybrid notebook, why stop there? The company even went put an HDR screen on the Notebook 7 Spin, and although it’s a feature that isn’t widely supported, the deeper blacks and more vibrant colours can never go to waste.